Ryan meets 5A foe McKinney, easily improves to 4-0

Ryan head coach Joey Florence had his headset off and stalked the sidelines as he watched his backups play Friday night at C.H. Collins Athletic Complex.

After the Raiders held McKinney scoreless in the first half of their nondistrict game, the Lions reeled off 13 points in the second half and Florence had seen enough.

On the next drive, Florence inserted his first team and they provided another touchdown for emphasis in a 49-20 victory.

“We just wanted to make sure we didn’t do anything silly,” Florence said. “You don’t want to let them back in. They didn’t surrender. They were still trying to score touchdowns on us. We had to put the guys in. I was proud of them. They went out and scored.”

The win is Florence’s 199th career victory as a head coach and Ryan’s fourth consecutive victory to start the season. It’s the second time in seven seasons in Class 5A the Raiders have started the season with four straight wins.

McKinney (3-2) was the first Class 5A team Ryan faced this season, and the Raiders snapped the Lions’ three-game winning streak.

Ryan quarterback Mitchell Bridges completed seven of nine passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Bridges rushed for 56 yards and had a touchdown.

When McKinney quarterback Brian Sutter found Marcus Cross for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 7:37 left in the third quarter, it was the first points Ryan allowed in almost 56 minutes of game time.

Ryan finished its win against Wylie East two weeks ago by not allowing a point in the second half. The Raiders (4-0) carried its dominance into Friday night’s game.

On homecoming night, Ryan jumped out to a 42-0 lead by halftime, which allowed the first-string players to rest for all but one drive in the second half.

On the final play of the first half, Ryan defensive lineman Donievin Oliver rushed through the line and drove Sutter into the ground as the clock expired. Sutter waited a few moments before he came off the turf and went to the locker room.

Ryan only allowed 81 total yards in the first half.

“They’ve been great,” Ryan senior wide receiver Xavier Gray said of the defense. “Our front seven does a lot of work, and our corners and safeties are getting better. Most of them are first-year starters, so they’re getting better.”

But after McKinney had scored 13 straight points in the fourth quarter against Ryan’s second-string defense then failing on an onside kick, the Raiders’ starting offense trotted back onto the field.

A.J. Anderson scored on 9-yard rushing touchdown with 8:51 left in the contest for Ryan’s final points.

Gray said Florence was not happy after McKinney’s two late touchdowns and onside kick.

“He was probably the maddest I’ve seen him since I’ve been here,” Gray said.

Ryan opened the scoring in the first quarter when Bridges found Trent Willis behind McKinney’s defensive backs for a 48-yard touchdown reception. Ryan senior defensive back Paul Hunter intercepted Sutter on the next drive, and Maurice Gordon scored on a 9-yard rushing touchdown on the next play to put Ryan in full control.

When the buzzer sounded to mark the end of the first quarter, Ryan had only ran three plays on its side of the field and led 28-0.

Ryan will enter another bye week before District 5-5A begins with a road game at Flower Mound Marcus on Oct. 11.

“We’re pretty good, but I still think we have to get better,” Florence said. “We’re fixing to play some really tough people here.”

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